Hugh Culber
|status = Unknown |datestatus = 32nd century |died = 2256, resurrected 2257 |mother = Culber's mother |actor = Wilson Cruz }} Lieutenant Commander Hugh Culber was a Human male Starfleet officer who lived during the mid-23rd century. He served as a physician aboard the . ( ) Early life At the age of sixteen, Culber was injured in a fall while hiking on the cliffs of Cabo Rojo, on Earth. Culber was rescued by a Doctor Kashkooli, who stitched and closed a puncture wound on his shoulder, which gave him a "very sexy scar." The experience inspired Culber to go to medical school. ( ) Career Federation-Klingon war During the in 2256, Culber served with his partner, Lieutenant Paul Stamets, aboard the . In 2256, Culber treated Stamets after he was injured in an unsuccessful test of the Discovery s spore drive. ( ) In December of 2256, Specialist Michael Burnham introduced Culber to "Ripper", a , after coming to believe that Ripper was experiencing pain during the starship's spore jumps. Culber agreed to run some tests. Scans of Ripper's frontal lobe showed significant cumulative deterioration every time Discovery went to black alert. The next time Discovery went to black alert, Ripper collapsed into a state of extreme cryptobiosis, reducing water content levels to one percent. Culber could barely detect Ripper's vital signs, and neurological tests indicated Ripper was possibly sentient. Acting Captain Saru ordered Culber to re-hydrate Ripper for more spore jumps. Culber refused the order, stating that he would "not be party to murder." Saru then ordered Lieutenant Stamets to carry out the order. Unbeknownst to Commander Saru, Lieutenant Stamets injected himself with Ripper's DNA and operated the spore drive in place of Ripper. Stamets rationalized to Culber that he knew he would leave him if he allowed anything else to happen to Ripper. ( ) Following the Battle at Pahvo, when Stamets entered a state of catatonia, Culber believed his moments of lucidity were merely insane ramblings. ( ) After experienced nightmares of having undergone surgery following Klingon imprisonment, he asked Culber to perform an examination on him. Culber discovered that Tyler's skeletal structure and organs had been surgically altered and that the Tyler personality had been overlaid over that of someone else. This led him to try to ground Tyler, which triggered a reaction in Tyler, who broke Culber's neck, killing him. ( ) It was later discovered that Culber had been correct and that Ash Tyler's personality had overlaid that of Voq, a Klingon. ( ) Post-war For his service during the , Culber was posthumously awarded the Starfleet Medal of Honor. Paul Stamets accepted the award on Culber's behalf. ( ) Culber, who had been trapped in the mycelial plane since his death, was resurrected by the jahSepp incarnation of and the jahSepp in 2257, following a mission to rescue Sylvia Tilly. After his resurrection, Culber was subjected to extensive scans. ( ) Doctor Tracy Pollard ran every scan or test she could think of on Culber, to the point that Culber thought there wasn't a scan or test that she had not performed. While the scans showed his new body was healthy, Culber's body was completely new, with even the old scar on his shoulder gone. Pollard advised Culber that it would take time for him to get used to his new body and that, while she would continue to monitor his condition, he could resume a normal life. ( ) Culber was reinstated in his post by Christopher Pike, and helped in an operation on Essof IV to capture the Red Angel. ( ) Culber decided to transfer to the , but he eventually changed his mind, when he realized that his place was with Stamets on the Discovery. He was among multiple crewmembers who volunteered to stay on board when Burnham took the ship forward into the 32nd century, to elude Control, with no chance of coming back. Along with the rest of the volunteering crew, Culber was presumed dead by Starfleet, based on the testimonies of the Enterprise senior officers. ( ) Appendices Appearances * ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** References * ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Background information Culber is portrayed by Wilson Cruz. He stated about the character, "It was important for me, when we were developing Doctor Culber, that he had this big heart, but he was also someone who was formidable, who could stand up to authority, who, you know, had no problem voicing his opinions and insisting on going the right way. So, I think we achieved that." ( ) Immediately after conceding that he didn't know what the mirror universe version of the character was like, Cruz theorized, "I think he's a bit of a mad scientist, probably doing, like, crazy, like, experimental, you know, things on aliens, kind of like the Germans did back in World War II." host Matt Mira suggested that the mirror Culber's work might be "trying to make a super soldier, like a Captain Terran," to which Cruz humorously added, "Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's definitely a goatee happening." Due to the time it took to produce all the elements needed to represent the mirror universe, the production staff had to be ready to have mirror universe looks for all the regular cast, including Culber. Thus, a pre-production artwork was created to demonstrate Culber wearing a mirror Starfleet uniform in primarily red medical division colors. In response to this image, Mira joked to Cruz, "I assume ''would mean you were going to die real quick," referencing the well-known phenomenon of redshirts, and Cruz replied, "''I died so quick I never got to wear it." DIS Executive Producer Aaron Harberts explained, "As we were starting to think about ''Mirror Culber and whether he would appear or not, it really was the desire that we never see him in the mirror universe, because we wanted to make sure that the image of Culber continues to stay pure and absolutely not evil. We didn't want to show that side of him, so ultimately we made the decision not to have Wilson appear in the mirror universe.''" Cruz actually got the opportunity to try on the costume (which both he and Harberts liked), before the idea of using it was ultimately scrapped. ( ) External links * * de:Hugh Culber Category:Humans Category:Starfleet sciences personnel Category:Medical practitioners Category:USS Discovery personnel